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Topic: Upadesha Saram (Read 73187 times)

For verse 4 of Upadesa Saram, the apparent meaning is that youpray to the five elements, sun, moon and individual souls as theforms of God. Arthur Osborne has also translated the same way,and there is no doubt about this. But the word, 'En' which is usedin Tamil, has got two meanings. One is 'eight' and the other is'one who thinks'. The word 'En' is pronounced as, in computerlanguage, with 'n' sounding as 'EN'. This gives the meaning thatwhatever form, you think and see before you, you consider it asthe form of God! Of course, all these forms are on the earth.

Once Bhagavan Ramana and a few others were strolling on the Hills.One lady was plucking all the bilva leaves on the trees on the wayand also plucking on the flowers that she could see. BhagavanRamana told her: "Why you cannot leave these leaves and the flowerson the trees? Are they are not more beautiful with the trees? Can'tyou worship them, in the trees? The Scriputres say that one shouldonly do pooja with flowers and leaves that have fallen on their own,even if these are old." The lady understood but meekly replied:"Bhagavan! I having taken a vow to do pooja with a lakh of bilwaleaves and flowers. That is why...." Bhagavan Ramana said: "Oh!You are praying to Siva with a lakh of flowers and leaves? Why notyou do pooja by pinching your body a lakh of times. Siva would preferit better than doing pooja with leaves and flowers!"

One another story is: Once there were a lot of bugs on the sofa, butBhagavan Ramana was tolerating their bites, without any murmur.The attendants had been seeing these bugs. At that time, DDT, wasjust then discovered. When Bhagavan Ramana went out for the stroll,they sprayed the liquid and killed all the bugs, changed the sheets andkept the sofa neat. On return, Bhagavan Ramana smelt the chemicaland expressed with deep anguish: O someone had been waiting for meto leave the sofa, and played this dirty trick.

In prayer, it is better to chant the names and do the japa, withinthe mouth, and it is called mantra dhyanam. Better the low voiced than the loud. But the best is meditation within the mind.

Better than hymns of praise,Is repetition of the name,Better low-voiced than loud,But best of all,Is meditation in the mind.

Once a queen was doing a lot of mantra japa but the king was busy with his royal work. However, he found that his wife isadvancing in spiritual field than he, who is spending his timein the worldly work of a king. So, he decided to do mantra japaat night while sleeping. Since sounds will distrub his wife, hewanted to do it within the mouth and in due course, it becamea meditation in mind. One early morning, the queen found herhusband mumbling something and she asked for the reason. Theking did not want to reply but on persistence from the wife, he told the truth. The queen became very happy and said he can continue this meditation and she would look after the work relatingto the king. The king went to the forest and continued his practice.

Meaning:-Like an unbroken flow of oil or a stream of water,continuous meditation is better than which is interrupted.

Comment:- Deliberate meditation is always interruted by thought disturbance due to the influence of innate tendencies.Mind is commonly interested in indulging in sense enjoyment and such a mind has to be prepared to be one pointed through rituals,Japa,meditation and enquiry.Then mind is gradually emptied of it's contents and such a mind has the capacity to meditate without interruption and it's attention moves selfwardswithout any break.Continuous selfward flow of mind is easy for those who withdraw their attention from nonself and abide in self and hold on to it without any separative feeling.Such a mind is called Atmakara or Brahmakara vritti.This is the goal of all spiritual desciplines.

This thyladhara is called the silent meditation, the brahamakara vritti.Like til oil flowing without noise, without splashing, this flows.

This is very difficult. Poeple have complained to Bhagavan Ramana thatthey are not able to do meditation and office work simultaneously.When one is attended, the other stops. Constant practice helps oneto do meditation in work. There, the mind as oil flowing does the work!It is brahmakara vritti which is doing the work.

Once Muruganar was asked to do pooja in Mathrubhutesvara Temple.He had to chant mantras or Tamil song, ring the bell from the left handand raise the arti with the right hand. He just stayed looking at theSiva Linga, chanting mantras, but the bell could not rung and the arti could not raise the arti. When he rang the bell, he had to stopthe other two activities. When the arti was raised, the remaining twocould not be proceeded with. Bhagavan Ramana smiled at him and said:Why are you not able to do all the three? He then showed how theseshould be done!

Again, once Muruganar was with Bhagavan Ramana, while the latterwas boiling a thyla on a big vessel near the cowshed. The thyla wasprepared for bath or as an oil for massaging. When the boiling wasover, Bhagavan Ramana put out the fire and asked Muruganar to transfer the oil from the vessel to smaller bottles with a ladle. Muruganarwas looking at Bhagavan Ramana and was transferring the oil. Hekept on pouring the oil into the bottles. He was doing continually,that the oil overflowed and fell on the ground! Without knowing that,Muruganar was looking at Bhagavan Ramana. A good amount of oilwas already on the ground. Bhagavan Ramana as usual smiled at himand said: What is that you are doing? The oil is spreading on the floor!

The story does not end here. Bhagavan Ramana then said: Take theoil and apply on your head, do not waste it. Muruganar was still lookingat Bhagavan Ramana and kept on rubbing the oil from the floor and applying it on his head. Soon, he was found that he was applying evenmud on his head. Again, Bhagavan Ramana said: You cannot do two things simultaneously. Alright, now go and have a bath and remove both the oil and the mud!

Dear Subramanian, Nice story.As the mental japa progresses japa happens by itself as an undercurrent even when we are involved in work also.It is not a hindrance to work.The whole thought matter gets concentrated only in that sacred word uttered mentally in japa.

I did the om nama shivaya mantra for two or three days, what happens is that a deep peace is coming over the mind (of course the thougt wander from time to time but it is very easy to get them back to the mantra, I did also during work))....and also from time to times the things you look at are repeating the mantra...a tree is ina way the mantram, also the identification with the mantra vanishes and it is selfrepeating (all this happened for just some seconds)---

but anyway if you stop the practice, all is gone...so it is more or less worthless...

My painting teacher was a disciple of swami muktananda (Siddha yoga) and afterwards traveled india naked with some sadhus for 2 years or something...

he told me lots of crazy stories about this time...and in his book "drinking lightning" art and transformation-- he also discribes the mantra yoga in a similar way, but of course guided by a master and for several month....

he said that after some time the mantra just contuinued without effort, the whole creation vibrated in the sound of the mantra..etc

I am glad to know about japa and the effects and the peace thatpasseth understanding. Please continue to do this. This is a caseof energy solidifying into matter. This is not Siddhi. It is much moresublime, because you only see the energy getting transformed intomatter and it is not for outsider's wonderment. Saint Tyagraja whowas a great Rama devotee, is said to have chanted Rama japa, 960 million times and Lord Rama appeared before him? How come?The vibrations, which are magnetic energy solidified into a Form, matter.This is simply Einstein's relativity, and it is true and nothing but true.Keep it up and make it everyday. If thoughts disturb you, it does notmatter. Pursue the mantra.

The Namasivaya becomes a continual monotone behind your activity. I chant Arunachala Siva, during the day and a number of times, in bed, before falling asleep. Whenever I get up after midnight for drinking water, the mantra continues, from within. When I get up again in the morning,it continues. It is like flow of an oil.

This was heatedly discussed in the blog of David Godman. He agreedthat there could be Visions which are different from feverish imaginations.Sankara "seeing" the Chandala, as Siva in Kasi (the famous ManishaPanchakam), many Siva saints "seeing" Siva on the bull with Uma,Tyagaraja "seeing" Sri Rama, after 960 million Rama Japa and Sankarananda Bharati "seeing" Skanda as Ramana, are Visions. Mygrandfather in his death bed, "saw" Yama sitting on the alarm clock was definitely a feverish imagination. Kavyakanta Ganapati Sastri had vision of Bhagavan Ramana as Skanda. But David does not agree that Bhagavan Ramana as the avatara of Kumarila Bhatta and Jnana Sambandha. He said that both Sankara and Kumarila Bhatta and Jnana Sambandha livedas contemporaries, with a few years' of age difference, and hence Bhagavan Ramana could not be an avatara of both Kumarila Bhattaand Jnana Sambandha. The ages of these saints have not been conclusively proved, so this is an open debate. But I agreedto both the Visions and the avatara conclusions. When Sankarawent to Tiruvidaimaruthur, a small town near Swamimalai, the SaivaSiddhantis said that only Siva is Brahman and the Saiva Siddhanta aloneis the correct philosophy. Sankara said that he did not have any quarrelin calling Siva as Brahman, but Advaita is the only Truth. They allwent to the Siva temple in that town, where Siva is called Madharjuna,the Lord of the jasmine flowers. Sankara recited Vivekachoodamaniand finally proclaimed: Advaitam Paramam Satyam, three times. A handappeared from Siva Linga, and said, : Yes. Advaitam Paramam Satyam.

Even this story for that matter, could be a feverish imgaination. Butone has to accept both the views. But Visions and feverish imaginationsboth happen to the person concerned , and not to others. I do not know whether the Saiva Siddhantis could "see" Siva's hand, but they heard the reverbrations: Advaitam Paramam Satyam. But again, as in any Indianclassical stories, there is no proof of records fixing the age of such happenings. That is why, there is such a big fight on Ramar Sethu,the Adam's Bridge issue. Who can say that Kalidasa saw UjjainMahakali? We have only his Shyamala Dhandakam. Both the viewshave to be accepted till one of the two things or both are proved.

They say YET BHAVAM TAT BHAVATHI. Chanting japa helps for the wavering mind lot.It brings Ekargraha chitta. With what kind of bhava if you Repeat the mantra brings lots of miracles. True devotee never asks anythingbut the almighty starts playing and shows lots of proves in front of non believer of God. Miracles take place.In fact after the miracles only I started the topic "Miracle". Lots of incidents happened in my life. I do nt know others. Sometimes, while chanting japa itself stops without any intention. I feel blank. no body movement but I aware what is happening around me.But it does not stay for long time. Now a days I take this like this also mind's play after knowing the pacifying the mind. Still I continue.

Meditating on the Godhead, as I am He, is the best meditation,since it does not seek separateness as Him outside you. KeepingHim outside your own Self is duality and is constrained by timeand space. As Dr. Raju said, it is the mischief of the ego. BhagavanRamana uses the Sanskrit words, 'Anya bhava' and 'A-nanya bhava'in the Tamil verse also.

Once Krishnapremi came to see Bhagavan Ramana and Bhagavanlooked at him intently for some minutes, since the former was alreadyan advanced soul with visions of Krishna. But Krishnapremi was notimpressed by Bhagavan Ramana's ways of devotion to the Self withinor surrender to the Self within. He excused saying that he would goto the Hills and went there and visited some places and started meditatingon Krishna. Later he returned to the Asram and proudly informed Bhagavan Ramana that he was playing with Krishna! Bhagavan Ramanasaid: "Oh, it is good, but why not you see Krishna within you and instead of playing around with Krishna outside you in the slopes of the Hills?You, visishtadvatins are telling that Sarvam Vasudevam mayam Jagat,but you are seeing Krishna only in front of you. If you contemplate onhim within, then the whole world, including the Hills and the slopes,birds and squirrels would appear as Vasudeva!" Krishnapremi agreed to this and found that the sentence, Sarvam Vasudevam mayam Jagat,had been understood by him correctly only on that day." Why Krishnashould be confined to a form, in front of you only? Why not withinHeart, whereafter, every living and nonliving being would appear asKrishna.

Later, Krishnapremi went with Bhagavan and others for a stroll on theHills. He went into deep contemplation on Krishna. Bhagavan Ramanaleft him undisturbed and returned to the Asram. It was soon lunch time.Krishnapremi was not to be seen. Bhagavan Ramana sent VisvanthaSwami. The latter went to Krishnapremi and said: "You are still sittinghere. Krishna had gone to Brindavan and is waiting for lunch. Why don'tyou rush with me and join him? Krishnapremi once again understoodthe 'ananya bhava' and returned to the Asram to sit with BhagavanRamana for lunch!

Dear Subramanian, Bhagawan gave darshan to Papaji in Punjab but Papaji could not recognise him as Bhagawan.Once Papaji came to Chennai onofficial government duty and decided to have darshan of Bhagawan.In Chennai he had darshan of Lord Rama along with Sitadevi and Lakshmana.Papaji felt extremely happy.Papaji is a Krishna Bhakta and used to play with him and talk to him whenever he wished.He had darshan of Bhagawanbut not much impressed by him.So he went to a place near Adi Annamalai temple and meditated on Krishna and krishna appeared before him.He told the same thing to Bhagawan and Bhagawan asked him saying "Do you want a God who occassionally visits you causing pleasure to youor do you opt for self which is always with you and is of the nature of blissful self conscious being.Papaji thought for sometime and understood the import of what Bhagawan is saying and he met Bhagawan in the afternoon when nobody is there and no words passed between themand Papaji got realisation in few minutes.There after Papaji spread the words of Bhagawan and later he became world famous teacher.He is the nephew of Swami Ram Thirtha.

2)Dear Srk Udai, By nondual experience i mean Advaita Siddhi which implies we are already the God and we are one with him even when we think that we are separate from him.Some words you should not take them literally but understand the heart and meaning behind them according to the context in which they are used.

Yes. I remember the story of Papaji and I think I wrote it underReflections of the Golden Eyes, the series which have now been pruned.Bhagavan Ramana said the same thing, to all dual experiencers.

Dear srkudai,

The non-ego experience is the Pure Experience, and Bhagavan Ramana called it as Wakeless Wakefulness, Dreamless Dream andSleepless Sleep and flabbergasted the devotees in the Hall. Allour other experiences that we have in the world, even though theSelf is always within us, are experiences marred by the ego.